Beyond Earth

June, 2016

This is a video assignment for the "Creative Technologies" module of my BA (Hons) Digital Media Arts degree at the University of Surrey.
Here we were told to create a 3-5 minute video which could be entered into the NASA & Houston Cinema Arts Society CineSpace 2016 Competition (http://www.cinespace16.org/). We had to include at least 10% of NASA archive footage.

Artist Statement

This video, titled “Beyond Earth”, explores how beautiful planet earth was before then diving into the problems the planet faces nowadays. It displays many relatable human issues, such as stress and greed, but also gets at the even bigger world problems such as global warming, pollution and war, in order to provoke an emotional response from the audience. After making viewers fully aware of these issues, it puts forward and encourages the futuristic idea of living in space – which it excitingly refers to as “Go[ing] Beyond”. The video works as an advertisement for a fictional campaign of the same name. It claims the experience will be “breath-taking”, “mesmerising” and “epic”, before then telling viewers that they can sign up online.

During the development process, ideas, styles and techniques from a wide range of media were explored, from Audi commercials to the WALL.E trailer. This, along with research into the idea of living in space, inspired the piece. The goal was to create a commercial for this fictional organisation that would absorb, provoke and excite viewers. This goal has been reached by guiding them through a 3-part plot; Earth as it was, Earth today, Space as the future. As this happens, the shots gradually get higher up; further away from Earth until the viewer is immersed in stunning space imagery from NASA.

The briefs specifications have been met, as this piece uses a distinguishable text-based narrative, with words and visuals which induce an emotional response from the audience. Calm music and clean white text also give the piece and the idea of space, a serene feel, leaving the viewer feeling awestruck.